Providing goods and services isn’t all your business does; your real mission is to satisfy and delight your customers. That’s what makes them return again and again to purchase your products, use your services, and tell everyone they know about just how great your business is.
But on busy days, it can be easy to let your commitment to this important mission slip out of mind and off your to-do list. When that happens, it can be helpful to remind yourself and your team why you do what you do—provide a top-notch customer experience every day. Let these customer service and customer satisfaction quotes inspire and motivate you to get out there and deliver excellent customer experiences every day.
The 2022 State of CX Report
Download reportWhat is customer satisfaction?
Customer satisfaction is all about how your customers feel about your company. If they feel their expectations are met by your products or services, they’ll feel satisfied. And satisfied customers tend to be loyal ones. Customer satisfaction depends on many factors, like the experiences customers have with your employees and the value they find in your products.
We have a complete guide to customer satisfaction—and the best way to measure it—if you want to take a deep dive. The following quotes on customer service and satisfaction will help you to look at the various aspects of customer satisfaction with fresh eyes, and gain some new perspective on the customer experience as well.
Customer satisfaction quotes
#1 “If you’re competitor-focused, you have to wait until there is a competitor doing something. Being customer-focused allows you to be more pioneering.” - Jeff Bezos
Focusing on the needs and desires of your customers more than what your competitors are doing will earn you both more business and highly satisfied customers. As former CEO and founder of Amazon, Bezos knows the importance of finding and fulfilling customer needs even if there’s no one else in your industry doing that at the moment.
#2 “There are no small moments, in some ways, because every single one of these moments is amplified right now. It’s all about setting expectations and then delivering on those smaller promises throughout the journey.” - Jeannie Walters
Walters, a customer experience expert, notes that in today’s demanding world, buyers expect satisfaction at every step of their journey with your company. Even the small moments that might go unnoticed by your team can make a big difference in how your customers think about your business—so ensure each one of those moments is an excellent experience.
#3 "The basics of business is to stay as close as possible to your customers—understand their behavior, their preferences, their purchasing patterns, etc." - Indra Nooyi
Companies thrive when they build close bonds with their customers, as Nooyi, the former CEO of Pepsi, notes. Assuming you know what your customers want isn’t a recipe for success—you need to reach out, ask them, and start a conversation. And you’ll need to do this regularly to make sure you’re staying ahead of any trends that could go unseen otherwise. This careful gathering of customer sentiment and feedback will help you meet every one of their needs and satisfy their expectations completely.
#4 “We think our job is to take responsibility for the complete user experience. And if it’s not up to par, it’s our fault, plain and simple.” - Steve Jobs
If customers aren’t satisfied with your company, it’s tempting to blame it on how they don’t understand your business or your products. But true accountability lies only with you, as Jobs, the late cofounder of Apple, notes succinctly. If customers aren’t happy with some part of your customer journey, don’t make excuses—just take responsibility and then fix it.
#5 “We are superior to the competition because we hire employees who work in an environment of belonging and purpose. We foster a climate where the employee can deliver what the customer wants. You cannot deliver what the customer wants by controlling the employee.” - Horst Schulze
Schulze, the former president of Ritz-Carlton, describes his secret to the company’s legendary customer service—it’s really all about the employees on the ground. You can’t have customer service that exceeds expectations if you don’t have employees who are willing to do that. And one powerful way to create a top-notch customer service team is to hire the best people and then let them deliver what they think the customer needs in that moment.
Customer service quotes
#1 "Customer service shouldn't just be a department, it should be the entire company." - Tony Hsieh
Zappos has a legendary customer service policy. Their whole mission from the very beginning was to go above and beyond for customers. Former CEO and founder Hsieh was deeply committed to making each customer interaction exceptional, and this quote exemplifies how he focused the company on that vision. This is one of the most popular inspirational service quotes for a reason!
#2 “One thing to recognize is that customer experience is proactive, i.e., we proactively design a great experience, whereas customer service is the reaction, i.e., when the experience breaks down, customers call for service/help. So if companies want to differentiate themselves, they ought to focus on understanding customers and designing products and services that solve their problems.” - Annette Franz
Franz is the founder and CEO of CX Journey Inc., a customer experience consultancy. In her eyes, delivering a great customer experience requires knowing the difference between what your customer service team can and should fix, and what is up to the rest of your employees to proactively create a great customer journey.
#3 “Setting customer expectations at a level that is aligned with consistently deliverable levels of customer service requires that your whole staff, from product development to marketing, works in harmony with your brand image.” - Richard Branson
Branson, the founder of Virgin Group, is famed for creating companies that put the customer experience first. His quote on customer service means that your business as a whole needs to be sure what you’re promising to customers is what you can actually deliver as customer service. And everything you offer needs to align clearly with your brand image as well, or you’ll risk disappointing and confusing longtime customers.
#4 “When customers get the help and issue resolution they seek, satisfaction, loyalty, and increased spending tend to follow.” - Dan Gingiss
Customer experience consultant Gingiss accurately points out that even if customers have an issue with your company, if your customer service team handles it well, you can bounce back. In fact, when you resolve their problems the right way, customers are likely to become even more satisfied and stick with you. Customers don’t expect companies to be perfect - but they do expect you to address and fix things that go wrong quickly and with kindness.
#5 "Good customer service costs less than bad customer service." - Sally Gronow
As Welsh Water's Head of Customer Contact, she couldn't be more right. Even slightly higher rates of customer retention make your business 25-95% more profitable. Gaining new customers is a pricey proposition, but delighting the ones you have through great services is only a fraction of that cost. Many businesses are hesitant to really invest in creating an excellent customer experience because it typically doesn’t come cheap. But the payoff and ROI are even greater than the initial investment in loyalty, satisfaction, and higher retention rates.
Customer loyalty
#1 "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently." - Warren Buffet
Creating loyal customers, and keeping them loyal over the years, is a non-stop process for companies. Buffet is one of the most successful businesspeople in the US, and as the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, he knows how focusing on the customer needs to continue even as companies grow complacent with increasing success. One negative interaction can cost you loyalty quickly.
#2 “If the customer gets their needs met, the company is easy to do business with, and the customer enjoys the experience, the customer is likely to be loyal. Not only loyal, but they are likely to share their experience with a friend, colleague or family member.” - Myra Golden
Golden is a customer experience designer who helps companies create highly loyal customers. That’s why she knows what customers look for in a business—they stay loyal to companies that meet needs and provide an easy and enjoyable customer experience. It sounds simple, but many businesses fail to do even this. And so if your company manages it, you can create not just loyal customers but new ones as well, as customers become advocates for your company.
#3 “There is only one boss—the customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” - Sam Walton
As the founder of Walmart, Walton knows well what brings in customers and grows your business. If you offer the best product or service in the market but you don’t treat your customers well, they won’t be loyal. They might buy from you right now, but they’ll be quick to jump ship once another option comes along. Putting customer needs first creates a powerful loyalty.
#4 "Repeat business or behavior can be bribed. Loyalty has to be earned." - Janet Robinson
Robinson, the former president and CEO of the New York Times, notes that there is a big difference between customers who purchase from you out of convenience and those who are highly loyal. Customers might return again and again to purchase your products for many reasons, but that doesn’t mean they feel a strong connection to your brand. However, when you create a highly satisfying customer experience, then your customers will promote your brand to others out of loyalty.
How to gather your own customer quotes by asking open-ended questions using GetFeedback
If you’re looking to gather your own happy customer quotes to use in testimonials or ads, or looking for open and constructive feedback on your business, you need the right tool. GetFeedback is a complete customer experience platform that can help you gain a deeper understanding of how your customers feel about your business. We can help you measure customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and more.
You can implement Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) surveys at specific points in your customer journey or to measure customer sentiment about your product or your business. These surveys typically begin by asking customers to rate how satisfied or dissatisfied they were with their recent purchase or interaction with your business, on a numeric scale. Follow up on this question by adding an option for open-ended feedback so customers can explain why they feel the way they do. The resulting quotes can provide significant insight into what customers really think about your company, and what’s exceeding or falling short of their expectations.
Or you could use a Net Promoter Score® survey to measure how loyal your customers feel towards your business, and how likely they are to actively recommend your products and services to people they know. NPS asks customers to rate how likely they are, on a scale from 1-10, to recommend your business to others. As a follow up, you can include an open-ended question to gather those quotes about satisfaction, loyalty, and more.
Wrap-Up
Hopefully these customer satisfaction quotes and inspirational service quotes have helped stoke the customer experience flame in you again—we all need a reminder from time to time about why what we do is valuable. Learn how GetFeedback can help you exceed customers’ expectations and deliver deeply satisfying customer experiences.
Net Promoter® and NPS® are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Inc., Satmetrix Systems, Inc., and Fred Reichheld.